Plastic support for bottles



Nov. 3, 1964 Filed Sept. 27, 1965 United States Patent 3,155,263 PLASTIC SUPPQRT FOR BOTTLES Walter E. Hidding, 505 Banhury Road, Arlington Heights, Ill. Filed Sept. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 312,227

7 Claims. ((31. 215-400) This invention relates generally to support devices incorporating a handle and relates more particularly to a carrier or support for use with bottles in the pharmaceutical, dairy and analogous industries.

Bottle supports which include a flexible handle element have been available in the past. However, these prior art supports have commonly connected the handle element to a continuous band at diametric locations and in a permanent fashion, the handle element being attached to reside normally in the plane of the band. The points of permanent attachment have been found to con- H centrate the stresses applied to the support by the Weight of the bottle and its contents. This concentration of stress has resulted in numerous failures and has tended to require the use of heavy sections with concomitant increase in costs whenever the support of a relatively heavy load was contemplated.

Therefore, a general object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved support for bottles and the like.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a bottle support in which the stresses imposed by the bottle and its contents are distributed rather generally throughout the support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support device which is arranged to promote the useful longevity of the incorporated handle element.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a support device in which the handle element is fulorumed to the cooperating, bottle-gripping band.

' a band of stretchable material adapted to be fitted to a bottle in friotionally gripping relationship therewith. A pair of fulcrum members are disposed at spaced locations on the band, and a bail arrangement is incorporated, including a handle portion which is swingable in one direction about the fulcrum members and including a base portion. The support additionally includes a stop member on the band intermediate the fulcrum members for abuttingly contacting the base portion of the bail arrangement to resist motion thereof in the'opposite direction.

In order that the principles of the invention may be readily understood, twoembodiments thereof, but to which the application is not to be restricted, are shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational viewof a milk bottle' to which there has been attached a support device constructed in compliance with the invention; 7

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the support device of FIG. 1 shown in assembled relationship;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective View of thesupport device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 isan enlarged view similar to the showing of FIG. 1 wherein a portion of one of the fulcrum members is cut away to show the cooperation between the handle element and the fulcrum member;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 4; a

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a modified sup-port device constructed in compliance with the invention, the

. support device being shown in disassembled condition Patented Nov. 3, 1964 and a portion of the handle element being broken away for convenience in illustration; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6 to show the cooperation between the fulcrum members and the handle element as they would appear in assembled relationship.

Referring now'in detail to the drawing, specifically to FIG. 1, a support device constructed in compliance With the invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and is shown as being attached to a half-gallon milk bottle 12. In accordance with conventional practice, the milk bottle 12 is provided with a cylindrical neck portion 14, a radially outwardly flanged lip 16 and a radially outwardly extending, annular ridge or bead 18. Con veniently, the support 10 is assembled to the milk bottle 12 at the neck portion 14 and beneath the bead 18.

Turning to a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, the support device 10 is seen to comprise an endless band or collar 20 and a separate bail arrangement 22. By providing these parts as separate elements, it is possible to make the collar 20 and the bail arrangement 22 from different materials which are respectively more suited to the differing requirements of the corresponding component, although the same material may be used for both the bail arrangement and the collar if desired. Advantageously, the band or collar 20 is fabricated from a tough,

resiliently stretchable material so that it may be forced over the lip 16 and the bead 18 into frictionally gripping relationship With the neck portion of the milk bottle 12. The polyolefinic plastics have proved eminently suitable in this regard.

In compliance with an important feature of the invention, fulcrum members 24 are disposed at spaced positions on the collar 20; and in the embodiment of FIGS. l5, these fulcrum members comprise L-shaped elements which extend radially outwardly from the collar 20 and which open in a common direction relative to the axis of the collar. 'Advantageously, the fulcrum members 24 are situated diametrically; and in addition, a stop member 26 is disposed on the collar 20 intermediate the ful- The bail arrangement 22 is made up of a handle portion 28 and a base portion 30, the handle portion 28 including a straight grip bar 32 and right angularly disposed legs 34 connected respectively to the ends of grip bar 32. Between the otherwise free ends of legs 34 and the base portion 30, the bail arrangement 22 includes stress-distributing sections 36. In the assembled state of the support device 10, .the base portion 30 of the bail arrangements 22 is intended to engage the stop member 26 in fitted manner. In addition, the handle portion 28 is intended to engage the fulcrum members 24 in fitted manner. Accordingly, the size of the opening in the members 24 and 26 is selected to cooperate with the thickness of the handle portion 28 and the base portion 30 respectively. The cooperation between the fulcrum members 24 and the legs 34 is well indicated in FIG. 5.

Considering FIGS. 2 and 4, the assembled state of .the support device 10 is seen to call for adisposition of the base portion 30v in the upwardly opening stop member 26 with abutting contact therebetween, the stop member 26 thus acting to resist motion of the base portion 30 in a generally downward direction. Furthermore, the legs 34 are to be situated underlying the downwardly opening fulcrum members to promote a swinging or pivotingmotion of the handle portion 28 from a position solid outline in FIG. I. During such swinging movement of the handle portion, the bulk of the bail arrangement 22 is free to react to the various forces imposed thereon; and the stress-distributing sections 36 may flex and twist and the leg elements 34 slide with respect to the fulcrum members 24 in response to the imposition of such forces. The stresses imposed on the bail arrangement 22 are therefore distributed and equalized throughout a major proportion of the part, and portions of the total stress are transferred to the collar 20 through the members 24 and 26. Fatigue and stress failures have been reduced substantially 'by means of this arrangement. It is to be recognized that, upon release of the handle portion 28 from its upright position, the natural resiliency of the part will return it to a position substantially coplanar with the collar 36 and out of obstructing relationship relative to the moutho-f the bottle 12.

If desired, enlargements 38 may be fashioned at the ends of each of the members 24 and 26, as is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in order .to preserve the assembled condition of the bail arrangement 22 and the collar 20. a While a particular embodiment of the invention has been thus far shown and described, it should be understood, of course, that the invention is not strictly limited thereto since many modifications may be made. One such modified embodiment is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Since the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 incorporates a number of elements which are similar to those found in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, like numerals have been used to designate like parts, the suffix letter a being employed to distinguish those elements associated with the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The support device which is indicated generally by the numeral 10a in FIGS. 6 and 7 is particularly characterized by its arrangement of the fulcrum members 24a. More specifically, the collar a is seen to be fashioned with diametrically disposed, outwardly deflected portions which define pivot posts 40, posts taking the form of bisected cylinders. In addition, a frusto-conical head 4-2 is formed on the end of each post 40, and each of the heads 42 incorporates an annular shoulder 44 facing in the direction of the collar 20a to define a retainer means. cooperatively, the bail arrangement 22a is provided with opposed apertures 46 which are sized to pass the heads 42 and to receive the pivot posts 40 in a rotatable manner. tween the stress-distributing sections 36a and the legs 34a of the bail arrangement 22a. It will be recognized that, when the heads 42 of the pivot posts 40 pass through the apertures 46, the shoulders 44 will act to resist dislocation of the bail arrangement from the collar 29a.

The specific examples herein shown and described are to be considered as being primarily illustrative. Various changes beyond those described will, no doubt, occur to those skilled in the art; and such changes are to be understood as forming a part of this invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A support for bottles andthe like comprising: a band adapted to be fitted to a container; a plurality of fulcrum means disposed at spaced positions on said band;

endless bail means including a handle'portion engaging said fulcrum means to swing thereabout in one direction, said bail means further including a base portion; and stop means on said band arcuately intermediate said ful- Advantageously, the apertures 46 are located be-.

crum means for abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in the opposite direction.

2. A support for bottles and the like comprising: a band of resiliently stretchable material adapted to be fitted to a container in frictionally gripping relationship therewith; a plurality of fulcrum means disposed at spaced positions on said band; endless bail means including a handle portion engaging said fulcrum means to swing thereabout in one direction, said bail means further including an opposed base portion; and stop means on said band arcuately intermediate said fulcrum means for abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in the opposite direction.

3. A support for bottles and the like comprising: a band adapted to be fitted to a container; a pair of fulcrum means, including L-shaped members located at spaced positions on said band, extending radially outwardly from said band and opening in one direction axially of said band; endless bail means including a handle portion fittedly engaging said members to be swingable generally in the opposite direction, said bail means further including a base portion; and stop means, including an L-shaped member extending radially outwardly from said band to open in said opposite direction arcuately intermediate said fulcrum means for fittedly engaging and abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in said one direction.

4. A support for bottles and the like comprising: a band adapted to be fitted to a container; a pair of fulcrum means, including pivot means located at spaced positions on said band; endless bail means including a handle portion engaging said pivot means to swing in one direction thereabout, said-bail means further including an opposed base portion; and stop means on said band arcuately intermediate said fulcrum means for abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in the opposite direction.

5. A support for bottles and the like comprising: a band adapted to be fitted to a container; fulcrum means, including pivot posts located at spaced positions on said band andextending radially outwardly from said band; endless bail means including aperture means rotatably receiving said pivot posts, a handle, portion swingable about said pivot posts in one direction, and an opposed base portion; and stop means on said band arcuately intermediate said pivot posts for abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in the opposite direction.

6. A support according to claim 5 which further comprises retainer means on the ends of said posts acting to resist dislocation of said bail means therefrom.

7. A support for bottles and the like comprising: a band adapted to be fitted to a container; a pair of fu crum means disposed at spaced positions on said band; endless bail means including a handle portion engaging said fulcrum means to swing in one direction thereabout, an opposed base portion, and stress-distributing portions between said handle portion and said base portion; and stop means on said band arcuately intermediate said fulcrum means for abuttingly contacting said base portion to resist motion thereof in the opposite direction.

References Cited in the are of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,635,604 Fredrickson Apr. 21, 1953 2,982,434 Hiddin-g May 2, 1961 3,093,257 Miller June 11, 1963 

1. A SUPPORT FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE COMPRISING: A BAND ADAPTED TO BE FITTED TO A CONTAINER; A PLURALITY OF FULCRUM MEANS DISPOSED AT SPACED POSITIONS ON SAID BAND; ENDLESS BAIL MEANS INCLUDING A HANDLE PORTION ENGAGING SAID FULCRUM MEANS TO SWING THEREABOUT IN ONE DIRECTION, SAID BAIL MEANS FURTHER INCLUDING A BASE PORTION; AND STOP MEANS ON SAID BAND ARCUATELY INTERMEDIATE SAID FULCRUM MEANS FOR ABUTTINGLY CONTACTING SAID BASE PORTION TO RESIST MOTION THEREOF IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. 